The BCCI ombudsman Justice AP Shah has dismissed allegations of conflict of interest against the board’s media manager Nishant Arora. Shah said the charges against Arora, leveled by freelance journalist Neeraj Gunde, “cannot be an issue of consideration.”Gunde had written to Shah last month alleging that Arora and his wife were involved in a commercial venture called Final Score that has on its clients list senior Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, as well as the the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Assocation, where BCCI secretary Anuraj Thakur is the president. Shah, however, said that Gunde’s application had been “disposed of”.
An email sent to PTI from the Ombudsman’s office stated that “Mr Arora’s wife does not hold any directorial post at Final Score.”
“It appears that all shares owned by Mr Arora, his wife and his mother, in Final Score, were liquidated on December 2015, before this application was made by the Ombudsman.
“The applicant Mr Gunde was offered an opportunity to respond to Mr Arora’s reply but no further response was received. It is evident that Mr Arora’s claims are not contradicted. The application no longer stands, and is, therefore disposed of.”